The Hokage Thing
by Ruinous Crow
Summary: Kushina died before the sealing and Minato was forced to use a different method of containing the Kyuubi. Namikaze Naruto is raised in love, but being the son of the Hokage comes with its own obligations, and the world of shinobi is never as straightforward as it seems.
1. A Father's Influence

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 _ **Prologue**_

 _A Father's Influence_

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Namikaze Minato, the Yellow Flash as named for his amazing technique to walk through time and space, was running late.

The chuunin in front of him—Tsutomu Motoyuki—was currently reiterating what exactly had happened in their B turned A rank mission. His report was to the point but excruciatingly exhaustive. It had been immediately obvious that everyone was alright and the enemies had been taken care of. All that was needed now was to finalize the details and for the Hokage to decide how to deal with the aftermath of the situation.

In fifteen minutes, his son would be graduating from the Academy. Tsutomu's account, on the other hand, didn't seem to be coming to a close any time soon.

Minato honestly wished that the man would just hurry it up. And, as soon as he had that thought, Minato regretted it.

His son's graduation ceremony was not more important than what this chuunin was reporting, especially so considering that he was Hokage now and his interests had to be towards Konoha first. Plus, the chuunin was trying his best. Minato had no right to stomp on his efforts.

He waited it out patiently, though near the end he was increasingly finding his teeth grinding firmly together. He relaxed his jaw with supreme effort.

Finally—finally!—the chuunin finished. As much as he wanted to leave with a quick 'thank you for your report' and a flash to the Academy, Minato instead stayed and praised Tsutomu for the quick thinking which allowed him to save his squad.

Tsutomu, ever professional, only bowed. But Minato could see the beaming pleasure in the lower ranked nin's eyes as he exited.

Minato waited a second for any more last minute appointments. When none came, he raced out of the office. Fortunately, he had the Academy tagged and it only took one Flying Thunder God technique for him to land at the gates.

Unfortunately, he'd arrived in his Hokage robes.

"It's the Yondaime!"

"What seriously? Hokage-sama's here?!"

"Yondaime-sama!"

A crowd of parents, who had previously been chatting enthusiastically with the Academy teachers, were now turning with the proclamations of the the Hokage's appearance. Even the students, young and rowdy as they were, hastily pulled off bows. Minato's eyes found Naruto immediately, who beamed at him. It was then that shinobi and civilian alike swarmed up to their Yondaime, preventing Minato from running off.

When he had sealed the Kyuubi, it had left him in a condition which did not allow him to much affect the world. It was only about a year ago that he had regained his full strength. By then he had mostly moved on from the allure of the office and had simply wanted to raise his child in peace. The Sandaime was only growing older however, and in the end Minato could not ignore the village. Having almost lost their Yondaime once, the villagers seemed to practically cling to him now—or perhaps he had simply grown more sensitive to it.

"Are you here to make a speech, Hokage-sama?" somebody asked.

The idea gained traction. It was decided that it was utterly brilliant and gracious that the Hokage would come himself to encourage the new graduates and inspire them. They all cheered.

Minato smiled awkwardly back at them.

There had been a time where he'd lived for moments like this. The cries of enthusiasm always sounded like music to his ears, because it was from the people of a village that he could call his. As a child and beyond it showed him a village united that he could be a part of, a village alive with the will of fire. When he'd become Hokage, cheers also took on the meaning that he was doing well in his post, that he was doing something right and hopefully not tarnishing the name of his predecessors.

He still did feel that way.

He loved Konoha with all his heart and felt deeply that they might feel the same towards him. He desperately did want to be that man that could keep the village in its era of prominence.

He just didn't want it right at this moment.

In the midst of the cheering crowds, Minato found his eyes straying to his son, who although looked proud at the fans his father gathered, also looked far too sad for the wonderful day this was. Minato's heart went out to him. It wasn't fair, this.

Today was supposed to be Naruto's graduation day. It was not supposed to be about his idiot father.

"Ah… well."

Still, he could not refuse the citizens when they had so sincerely asked him for an address. Minato cleared his throat, and motioned for everyone to take a step back. They did so, eyes brimming with enthusiasm. Minato couldn't help but smile.

He gave an impromptu speech. Despite the fact he had not prepared, he was fortunately able to weave his words together into something that wasn't an embarrassment. _I think_ , he thought with some amusement and an inward roll of his eyes, _that Sarutobi-san would have a heart attack if he knew how much I actually winged my addresses to the public._

After the speech was given, the interest in him thankfully died down. Minato saw quite a few shinobi parents who had quietly pulled the civilian ones aside, and mentally thanked them for their consideration.

Smiling brightly, he turned towards the direction he had last seen Naruto.

A few girls had gathered around Naruto to discuss something or another with him. One even leaned down to tug on his cheek. From Naruto's rapidly reddening face, Minato cheerfully decided it was something he should leave his son to finish first.

He went to find one of Naruto's Academy instructors instead.

Umino Iruka's eyes widened in utter surprise when he spotted Minato coming his way. Discreetly the shinobi teacher looked around, as if trying to figure out whom the Yondaime could possibly be interested in.

Minato smiled. Iruka was one of the few instructors that Minato liked. Although the homeroom chuunin did not treat Naruto with warmth exactly, he was fair and not out to get Naruto.

When Iruka had realized that Naruto was ahead of his peers, he reacted accordingly and left Naruto to his own devices and only really called on him when it was necessary to demonstrate for the rest of the class. Naruto had a bad relationship with most of his teachers, a fault of which was solely Minato's to shoulder, but to Umino-sensei at least, Naruto held genuine respect.

There were some others that Naruto mentioned liking, but Iruka was his homeroom teacher, and thus Minato reasoned, the one likely to have the most accurate assessment on Naruto's last year in the Academy.

"Hello," Minato said merrily as he stopped a few feet away from the harried looking instructor.

There was one last frantic look around. Seeing no one else, Iruka bowed deeply, his voice a murmur of respect, "Hokage-sama."

"None of that, since I'm just here as a parent. Minato's fine," the blond said with an easy grin on his face. It was half amused, and half melancholic. Nobody ever took him up on that offer. "I wanted to know, since you were the primary instructor for his class, how has my son been doing?"

The smile that spread across the chuunin's face was genuine. Iruka straightened then, and seemed to relax.

"He's very impressive," the scarred man said with an exasperated glance in Naruto's direction. One of the girls had latched onto Naruto's arm and he was trying discreetly to pull away. "But I'm sure you already know that. Not everybody graduates at age nine, and I don't think I'd be wrong in assuming that he could have graduated even earlier if he wanted?"

Minato shook his head wryly, not altogether surprised by the man's insight. Minato hadn't exactly encouraged Naruto not to show off during his time in the Academy, although he did warn against anything excessive.

"I didn't want him to become shinobi so early," Minato explained. There wasn't really a need to. He was Hokage and nobody could really question him, and besides which he was sure that Iruka had already guessed. But there was something that was gratifying about acting this role of a normal parent clearing up their actions to the teacher.

"And why now?" Iruka asked curiously. "This is hardly much later than when he was say, seven."

Minato grimaced.

A few months ago he had been reinstated as Hokage, not able to put it off any longer, and the years of transactions had caught up with him. It was only a day in before he remembered how much work it'd all been, and although the Sandaime had been prepping him, Minato still found himself overwhelmed.

He did somewhat catch the hang of it again, but the work was still so much that he often did not arrive home until very late at night. It'd been hard on Naruto especially, who'd grown up with Minato always being around. Quite suddenly, his father just wasn't there anymore. Naruto didn't say anything of course, because he was a good kid like that, but Minato could tell it made him sad.

It was almost enough for Minato to give up the whole Hokage thing. Achieving the title had been his childhood dream, but it hadn't felt the same ever since Kushina died. The only thing stopping him from leaving was that he knew Konoha needed him now more than ever.

So he'd done the next best thing. Naruto had been asking if he could graduate because the Academy was honestly boring for him, and Minato had finally let it happen.

He was as leery as any other parent about letting their child out into the real world, but Naruto had proven himself with that travel trip to the Land of Flowers. Mostly Minato hoped that by giving Naruto something to do with his spare time and teammates that would become the best of friends, Naruto wouldn't feel like he was being left behind.

"Naruto wants to become shinobi," Minato gave instead. He shrugged, and a helpless little smile spread across his features. "I can't refuse him. But, there were a few things I wanted him to learn first."

It wasn't a lie. After that disastrous trip to the Land of Flowers, where Naruto nearly died on what should have been a vacation, Minato wasn't taking any chances. He wanted to be sure that his son had at least mastered Summoning and the Body Flicker before venturing outside of Konoha again. It should at allow Naruto to escape should he encounter any S-class missing nin again.

"I see," Iruka smiled. Minato smiled back. Maybe the Academy teacher did see. He was a pretty astute one.

They talked about a few more things: Naruto's behaviour in class ("Stellar really. He's of great assistance to me, always mediating and helping the other students. Well, except when he gets into fights with Sasuke-kun."), his grades ("Sometimes I end up learning things from his tests. Other times… well, he can be a bit careless."), and his relationships ("Ah, well, I'm afraid he doesn't seem to have any close friends—yes, he speaks about Kabuto-kun all the time. I haven't taught him personally, but I've heard great things about him from my friends at the hospital."). Finally Naruto seemed to extract himself from the clutches of the pre-teen girls and Minato said goodbye to the well mannered Academy instructor.

"Dad!" Naruto greeted happily. Minato wisely decided that the relief on his son's features existed solely because he missed his father _that_ much. It had nothing to do with now having an excuse to avoid more girls.

"Hey, Naruto," Minato grinned, placing a hand on Naruto's hair and giving it a fierce ruffle. "Congratulations on passing!"

Naruto rolled his eyes, "As if that was ever in question."

The bright smile on his face told Minato otherwise. His son was pleased.

"Let's go home, shall we?" Minato offered, his grin turning into something more gentle.

"Yeah," Naruto nodded. Together, they walked out of the Academy grounds. Just before they hit the village proper however, Minato paused.

"Oh, almost forgot," he muttered to himself, putting his fingers together in a quick seal. He layered a quick genjutsu which subtly encouraged people not to pay attention to him or his companion. "Transform!"

A few poofs of smoke later and the Hokage of Konoha was sporting a blue cap and some indistinguishable clothes. He even had a large scarf wrapped around the lower part of his face to hide his features. Minato glanced at the nearest reflective surface and frowned at the fact that he looked like a complete creeper— but small sacrifices.

Naruto actually stopped and stared. "You… look like Jiraiya-jiji. When he's staking out the bathhouses."

Minato actually grimaced at that. They began walking again. "Well, at least it means people are less likely to approach me."

Naruto's hand reached out. He grabbed hold of Minato's own, who returned it with a squeeze. The smaller blond's voice was a little choked, "Dad…"

The villagers never failed to greet Minato when he entered the streets of Konoha. Minato never failed to greet them back and ask after their welfare. It made what should have been five minute long journeys into half hour ones. It made Minato the most beloved Hokage that Konoha ever had.

It also made it incredibly difficult for whoever happened to be with him at the time. His son always met those situations with grace, and was sometimes pulled into the conversations, but Minato didn't think he should have to today. He smiled. "It's your day, Naruto."

Naruto flushed, looking down. "I haven't really become genin yet, you know."

Minato gave his son a look of fond exasperation. The second exam after graduating from the academy was supposed to be a secret. But between Kakashi's complaints about all the teams he had to fail and Jiraiya's rambling stories about his old teammates, it was hard for Naruto not to figure it out.

"I'm sure you'll pass," Minato said without a hint of doubt in his voice.

And then he considered it, because jounin were often… eccentric, for lack of a better term. Even so, they all respected the Yondaime, and he knew that all would feel the pressure of passing the Yondaime's son. It wasn't to say that they would purposefully flub their tests, but there would definitely be a subconscious bias in favour of Naruto. As such, Minato had decided on a sensei who really didn't care about social obligations and rank. Naruto's abilities were not in question, but the genin tests were not always about ability alone.

"Well," Minato amended as they stepped into the busy streets of Konoha and nobody gave them more than a confounded glance, "even if you don't pass, I'll still celebrate your early graduation. It's not everyone who's able to do that, you know."

It was true. Graduating before the age of twelve was strongly discouraged during peace times, and only truly exceptional geniuses were allowed the attempt. Clan pressures and the Hokage's recommendation could influence the decision, but Minato hadn't done any of that for Naruto.

Naruto's shoulders slumped. They passed by the fruit stands, where merchants were chatting happily with those who frequented their wares. "That sounds like a consolation prize."

"It isn't really," Minato insisted. "Even I didn't graduate early. I'm very proud of you."

Naruto heaved a great sigh, "You've taught me so much I can't _not_ see myself doing alright, but the genin tests are team based, aren't they? Let me have it, who's on my team? With my luck it'll be a Nara and a Shimura."

Minato parted his lips to answer automatically, before snapping his mouth shut. He blinked down at the smaller blond incredulously. The devious little—

Minato crossed his arms and shook his head in bemusement, "Your team, Naru-chan? The last I checked you weren't the jounin-sensei."

Naruto peeked up from behind blond bangs. When he saw that the jig was up, he huffed, shedding the cloak of insecurity with ease. He raised his chin, meeting Minato's amused gaze with his entertained one. Off to the side, a child started crying, but his mother quickly shushed him.

"It might as well be," Naruto teased, "since I'll be the one who'll bring the team any fame. They'll be nothing without me!"

Minato didn't bother holding back this time. He threw back his head and laughed.

"Sooo," Naruto prodded, inserting just the slightest hint of a whine in his voice. "Who'd you choose? Who? I'm going to find out tomorrow anyway, so all you're doing in persisting to hide this non-vital information from me is prolonging how long I'll bother you for."

Naruto knew how shinobi team placements worked. Clan members and especially promising students were usually grouped together, and despite the proclamations of fairness, they were the ones who were expected to pass. In some ways it couldn't be helped, because they would always have a resource the civilians simply didn't, and that extended to their shinobi lives as well.

That was not to say that those teams were sure to pass, because the jounin sensei chosen could potentially be a wild one and decide that the academy students simply weren't ready to become genin, but with the statistical probability and pressure from the clans made that possibility very low. Kakashi was one such example, giving an unorthodox assessment of teamwork instead of measuring by actual skill.

And of course, it wasn't impossible for civilians to become ninja. They just had to be very, very lucky. If there was an odd number of clan members, a civilian could be placed on a team that was almost slated to pass. Or, a very surprising and unexpected genin squad which managed to impress their sensei and pass even though they had been arranged to fail.

The taller blond mock frowned at his son, "I never should have taught you the art of negotiation."

"But you did," Naruto chirped, glancing at a kebobs stand they just walked by and licking his lips, "and I'm rocking it. So shouldn't you give me a reward?"

"Alright then," Minato laughed. "I'll give you a hint. You only took the test to certify that you were ready to become a ninja, but you didn't actually complete any of the assignments the graduating class did over the year."

Naruto's attention snapped back to his father. He patiently waited for more. Minato watched him with a smile and twinkling eyes. Naruto groaned aloud. "What does _that_ mean?"

"Nah-uh," Minato said cheerily, tilting his head, "that level of negotiation only gets that kind of answer."

"Stingy," Naruto groused. "I bet if any other kid was the Hokage's son, they'd get an answer."

"Even if some other kid was the Hokage's son," Minato pointed out placidly, "I'd still be Hokage."

"Phhft. Logic. Who even uses that anymore?"

"I wonder if I should be worried about the new generation of ninja," Minato mused. They passed by one of the Uchiha Military Police. His red gaze skimmed over them briefly before it snapped back, identifying Minato's genjutsu as harmless.

Naruto huffed, affronted. "Didn't I say I'd lead them? So it'll be fine. More than fine. We'll conquer all the countries and erect ramen stands everywhere, and make Konoha the Ramen Capital of the world."

"Oh gods," Minato laughed, "that's horrifying."

"It's delicious is what it is," Naruto's right hand lifted to his stomach, just as it let out a growl. And ah, that explained his increasing attention to the food they saw. His hand fell, and he turned a sly grin on Minato then, "Ne, ne, since we're celebrating, you'll treat me to ramen right?"

Minato froze. "Er."

"What? Why can't we have ramen? Pleeeeease?"

"Um." Hurriedly, Minato tried to think of a topic to distract his son. "Well, what did you think about the book I assigned you this week?"

"Huh?" For a moment Naruto looked confused, before what Minato actually said seemed to dawn on him. He pouted, crossing his arms over his chest and blowing out his cheeks. "I can't believe you're asking me _that_ on my graduation day."

Naruto was miles ahead of his peers at the academy, and as such Minato took it upon himself to entertain his son's intelligence. Each week Naruto was given a book to read about any subject which caught Minato's attention, ranging from history to advanced math problems. At the end of it Minato would probe his son for how deep his understanding was, and go over everything in detail. This week it had been about sealing.

Minato simply smiled. "Rewards are best enjoyed when one has worked hard to earn them."

"In other words you're holding ramen hostage," Naruto said, aghast.

"Indeed," Minato said, nodding seriously. "And I am a most terrible jailer."

Naruto thought for a moment, and sighed. "It was interesting. The part about applying a time portion to storage scrolls was pretty cool. But the author's conclusion about using quantum mechanics seems over complicated. Relativity is easier to calculate."

"Do you really think so? For relativity you would have to pinpoint the position of the object as it travels through the storage dimension at a speed that you and I can't begin to see," Minato pointed out.

"Sure," Naruto shrugged, "but it seems more doable than freezing the position of every atom in an object to stop the natural entropy. Also, you wouldn't need to find a way to convert heat into usable energy due to the power needed to form and break bonds."

Minato smiled brightly, "You have thought about this. But how would you overcome the acceleration problem?"

Naruto froze, "Acceleration problem?"

"Sure." Minato's smile was unchanging. "If you pluck an object from a different time current, especially one that is so different it essentially freezes the object in time, there must be a great amount of acceleration wouldn't there? Assuming we could find a way not to destroy the object through the stress of its change in velocity, there's still the question of how we could prevent the object from experiencing all the time that it's lost during that period."

Naruto groaned aloud, " _This_ is why I wanted to avoid the discussion period. You always ask trick questions."

"Hmm," Minato smiled. They had finally reached the end of the street. "I'm afraid you weren't good enough. No ramen for tonight."

Naruto's mouth dropped open, " _Seriously_?"

The blond child grumbled, but did not push his case further. They walked the remaining stretch to the Namikaze complex, and Minato shed his genjutsu. Grinning, he also cast another quick jutsu behind his hand as a signal.

"…still can't believe it," Naruto was complaining as he opened the door.

"SURPRISE!"

Naruto jumped about a foot in the air. His first instinct wasn't to go for his kunai. He wasn't quite a trained shinobi yet after all, despite how prodigious he was. Naruto gaped.

Inside the walls of the Namikaze house, balloons and streamers replaced order and the peaceful decorations Minato preferred. Shirou, Kaoru, and Yuuta, Naruto's friends from the academy, stood grinning at the doorway. Kabuto, who was Naruto's very best friend, stood a bit further off. When he saw them, he raised his hand in greeting and smiled.

"Guys." Naruto's words were reprimanding, but his beam was anything but. "I haven't actually passed yet, you know."

They had a ball of it. The children all greeted their Hokage with low bows and a murmured name, to which Naruto rolled his eyes at but allowed due to convention. Dinner was a warm affair. They all chatted easily about their lives and everyone had funny anecdotes to give. Cake was even better.

Afterwards, Minato went to work on some seals and allowed the kids free reign. When Minato came back to the living room, Shirou had dumped a bag of ice down his female teammate's shirt. Kabuto subtly ushered them out of the living room and into the gardens, where their antics could run wild without any damage to the Hokage's furniture. Yuuta was thanking Kabuto frantically as Naruto was dragged into a tug of war match with Shirou and Kaoru.

Cackling, Naruto pulled his two bespectacled friends to join him as well. They ended up playing an out of the world game of ninja, where everyone made up a bunch of rules and nobody was exempt from betrayal. Halfway through Kakashi arrived, giving some excuse about a cat, and everyone unanimously decided to team up against him instead.

Kakashi came back with his hair dripping with eggs and sparkles. Kabuto packed surprising things. Minato had taken one look at all of them and collapsed in laughter.

When everyone left, Minato had one last surprise for Naruto.

After cleaning up, Minato took a step back. He gave the smaller blond a long, considering look, before nodding gravely, "Alright then, since you graduated, there's no point in holding this back any longer. Because now you are going to be a shinobi of Konoha, I will impart onto you a personal technique of mine. You must use it wisely."

Naruto, who had been glowing at the freshly polished table, whipped around so quickly it was a wonder his neck didn't snap. Blue eyes went wide, "You don't mean—"

The grave expression cracked and slipped from Minato's face as he smiled brightly at his son, "Yep, I'm going to teach you the rasengan."

"Yatta!" Naruto whooped as he leapt up in excitement. He had been begging his father to teach him the move in forever, ever since Minato had showed it to him as an example of shape manipulation. The smaller blond rushed forward in one motion, flinging his arms around his father's waist and burying his face in the other's chest, muffling his voice. "You won't regret it."

Minato's heart ached for his son as he returned the hug. Reaching out a hand to twine his fingers through golden locks, he ruffled the small boy's hair. "I know I won't. You always make me proud, Naru-chan."

Tomorrow Naruto would become a shinobi of his own right in Konoha. Tomorrow Naruto would have new teammates and a new sensei to teach him things. Minato had no doubt that Naruto would be the greatest ninja Konoha had ever seen.

But tonight—well, for tonight they could simply spend some time together, father and son.


	2. Team Five

A/n: A few things before we begin for real, I suppose. Just so you know what you're getting into?

 **The Universe:** I follow Kishimoto for the most part, but the last 300 chapters have really been ridiculous and there will be a lot of things I'll be ignoring from that (Kaguya and the zombie army for instance). I couldn't bring myself to read most of the manga after the Kage Summit arc to be honest. If you're very very big on observing canon this probably isn't the story for you. There is actually another fic in this universe's continuation, _The Daddy Thing_ , which contains the background of Naruto's upbringing and is written to be the fluffiest thing since mold appeared on bread. If you're interested, you're welcome to check it out. If not, you can still understand this fic perfectly fine.

 **The Characters:** There will be a mixture of canon and OC characters, and both will be important. I don't typically like to use OCs, but considering the sparsity of characters introduced for this period of time (Rookie Nine is still in school) there's little choice on the matter. If you disagree with me on the interpretation of a character, I would be more than happy to hear your reasons. However, I am just going to consider a line like 'character x wouldn't do that, you suck' to be a matter of personal preference. If there's a legitimate reason for complaint, please explain your thoughts and rest assured I will consider your points.

 **The Writing:** I'm in love with family/friendship, working through relationships, scenes of the heart-to-heart nature. I like to build plot slowly, and the first inklings of the serious stuff might not appear for a while. I do believe that no story should be without its darker side. However I don't like it when things get too dark, so no dystopia where everyone is a scarred killer. Usually I write optimistic fiction with some angst.

 **The Updates** : Slow. I'm in my final year of university and I'm applying for grad school, as well as a ton of other stuff I won't bore you with. I am doing this for fun and because some people from _The Daddy Thing_ wanted a sequel so I wanted to write it for them. Needless to say, I need good grades and I have a lot of things to do, so I won't make promises about when the next chapter might or might not be out.

Alright I think we're good. I just wanted to make all of this clear because I don't like getting reviews asking me to change my characters into someone mysterious and cool and silent, and I'm sure none of you like taking your time with a fic you ultimately come away disappointed with because it wasn't what you wanted. It's within your rights to prefer other interpretations, just as it's within my rights to prefer mine. If you couldn't stomach any of what was stated above, you should probably give up on this story now. (This fic got like 400 favs in the first chapter, so thank you guys for your faith, but I think you might have counted your chickens too early. I'll be - albeit pleasantly - surprised if those numbers don't drop with this update XD)

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 _ **Chapter 01**_

 _Team Five_

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"Team Five. Namikaze Naruto, Kida Takiko, and Souma Atsuya," an olive skinned woman read from her clipboard as she scanned the room for her assigned team. Long dark hair was tied loosely at the base of her neck, accentuating her lean face. Her pale blue eyes were chips of ice.

Naruto rose. A raven haired boy seated somewhere to his right and an auburn haired girl at the back did the same. Naruto recognized them immediately from the files he had peeked at earlier, but that was it. Since he had graduated by taking the examination earlier, the only time he had seen any of the people in this classroom were during recess or the other day while they were being tested.

Namikaze Naruto was the son of the Hokage. When the Kyuubi no Kitsune had attacked Konoha on October Tenth, Namikaze Minato had sealed the beast within his own son, with great cost to himself. As a result, he hadn't been able to retake leadership of the village until very recently. He did manage to live through the sealing however, though only regaining his full strength a year and a half ago. Naruto had practically been raised on chakra theory and shinobi history, and today he was finally entering that world.

The smaller blond shifted slightly, brimming with a mixture of nerves and excitement. The previous night his father had given him some hints regarding his team placement, and Naruto had looked up two profiles as a result. Souma Atsuya was the Rookie of the Year. Kida Takiko the one with the 'middling' scores, her stellar taijutsu cancelled out by her abysmal written tests. Naruto filled out the nominal 'dead last' position due to the fact that he'd passed the graduation exam but hadn't actually completed any of the assignments for the graduating year.

He knew it wasn't exactly fair, but it was probably more fair than placing him with someone who couldn't even do well in the Academy. He might be staying with this team a while after all, and it was better if they were around the same level.

Kakashi and Jiraiya had both spoken at length about the unbreakable bonds between teammates, though Dad had just smiled and told him every team worked differently. Naruto had seen both ends, with the inseparable Shirou-Kaoru-Yuuta trio and his best friend Kabuto who had ditched his team as soon as it became prudent.

He wondered what kind of team his would turn out to be. Neither Souma nor Kida were clan names, but the positions the two held in class suggested that neither were from a wholly civilian background. It wasn't impossible for civilians to do better than shinobi children—but it was very, very hard. He wondered if they would be friends.

Thankfully, before he could begin to psyche himself out, the dark haired woman glided towards the door. She didn't bother to nod in acknowledgement. Naruto glanced to his proclaimed teammates, but both were focused on their sensei rather than each other. They followed after her.

The woman led them to one of the Academy courtyards. Since graduation had already commenced, the Academy was closed to the general public. The only ones allowed in the schoolyard that day were the freshly minted genins and their instructors.

She stopped in the middle of the field, turning suddenly back to face them. Naruto also halted, long used to unforeseen movements from his friends and family. Surprisingly, the other two did the same.

"I'm Muraoka Sumina," the dark haired woman said blandly. "I am going to be your jounin sensei. I specialize in weapons and ninjutsu, and am fair at genjutsu. My blood type is B."

There was a moment of silence as the three genin stood in surprise, not having expected the sudden introduction. And then one of them recovered.

"I am Souma Atsuya," the dark haired boy said quietly. He had perfect poise, and the only sign of his indifference were the lowered lashes over his hazel eyes. "I do not have any particular specializations as we have only just graduated from the Academy. Although I do not see any relevance in this, my blood type is A."

Atsuya's introduction seemed to spur the only other female member of their team into action.

"My name is Kida Takiko," the girl shouted. Her auburn hair was cropped to her ears, highlighting her blazing green eyes. She jabbed out her pointer finger at their sensei. "You'd better remember that! I specialize in everything! I er—" Here she seemed to waver, confusion spreading across her face, "I don't know what my blood type is? Why's that matter?"

"It doesn't," Sumina shrugged. "But people always seem curious about it in introductions."

Naruto grinned. Whatever anxiety he had felt earlier dissipated.

"I'm Namikaze Naruto," the shorter blond chirped in greeting. "I guess that out of all the ninja arts, I'm best at ninjutsu. I'm about intermediate level in fuinjutsu. I also have blood type B. Pleased to meet you!"

Takiko turned a glare on him.

"Indeed," Sumina said after a pause. She swept her eyes over all three of them, before nodding to herself. "Alright, the Academy test was in truth only a way to weed out the students who were not serious about becoming shinobi. There is a second test that takes place in which two-thirds of students usually fail, given by your jounin instructor, which will truly determine whether you are ready to become genin."

Naruto nodded, having expected this, but his teammates clearly did not. Shock seemed to have arrested Atsuya for a moment, before a bitter expression crossed his face and shut it out.

"What!" Takiko exploded. "You mean all those Academy exams were for nothing?"

"They were not 'for nothing'," Atsuya interrupted, recovering as his brown eyes searching their instructor for tells in body language. "Of course, I do not plan to fail, but for those who do, are they sent back to the Academy?"

"That is correct," Sumina nodded.

"And the test itself? Is it standardized with the only difference being the jounin who administers it, or do you determine what kind of test we receive as well?

"I determine it. Every jounin has different values on what makes a good shinobi."

Atsuya's gaze sharpened, and he bowed his head. A low murmur was the only sound which betrayed his thoughts, "I see."

"Wait, wait!" Takiko's eyes went wide as she stumbled back a step, "You mean you could give us a completely arbitrary test and send us back to the Academy based on that? How's that fair!"

"That isn't my purview," Sumina replied without emotion. She glanced to the sun. "Get your weapons and meet me in Training Ground 30 in an hour. I will give you your test then."

She put her hands up in a familiar seal, and disappeared in a swirl of wind.

There was a heartbeat of silence.

"What?" Takiko flailed. "Did she just leave us? She did, didn't she? Where's Training Ground 30?!"

"I think the test has already begun," Naruto said thoughtfully. Dad never really played this kind of psychological trick on him, but Naruto had people watched enough to recognize it. "The training ground she mentioned isn't one that the Academy uses, so she must want to see if we can find it by ourselves."

Takiko spun and practically spat at him. The vehemence behind it startled Naruto, nearly causing him to take a step back. "I didn't ask _you_."

"I—" It wasn't as if he'd never received unexpected hostility before, but the last incidence felt like a lifetime ago. Naruto fumbled for the words. "It's just that I know where the training ground is. It's not too far. Fifteen minutes at most if we take to the roof tops."

"Think you're so special just because your daddy takes you to a bunch of training grounds, do you?" Takiko growled.

Naruto couldn't help but stare. What even…?

"No," Naruto responded slowly. His voice had gained a hint of terseness. It wasn't exactly the calm reaction he'd been aiming for, but his female teammate was making friendliness very hard. "But if this is a test, then—"

"If this is a test, I'll pass it!" Takiko spat. "I don't need _your_ help to do it."

She spun on her heel, rushing back into the Academy before they could stop her.

Naruto jerked forward, "Hey—"

"What a fool," Atsuya sneered.

Inwardly Naruto fumed. It took an effort not to let that show. "Should we go after her?"

"I don't see why. If she wishes to fail, it is none of our business."

Naruto bit his lip. On one hand, what Atsuya said was true. Takiko did not want their help, and imposing it on her anyway would be a huge insult. On the other hand, she was their teammate, and if she failed then they all failed. Naruto had no intention of failing. However, he could not say that, since Atsuya did not know about that component of the exam.

Atsuya was eyeing him thoughtfully. Finally, he sighed, "You need not worry about Kida. Despite how she acts, she had rather high scores in investigation and tactics. If it's something as simple as finding a training ground, she won't fail."

"Really?" Naruto turned with the slightest hint of surprise. He sagged in relief. He knew her scores, but as someone who received constant tutoring from the strongest ninja in the village, he also knew his sense of what was normal knowledge was skewed. "Alright. Let's go meet our sensei at Training Ground 30 then."

Naruto led the way. Because they had the entire hour, Naruto decided to take the village route instead of the ariel one. It was more relaxing and it gave him some time to clear up some things. Atsuya didn't seem to mind, as he gave Naruto point.

"So what's Kida's problem, exactly?" Naruto murmured in question. It could be a number of things. The children still didn't know about his status as Konoha's jinchuuriki, but Takiko's parents could have easily passed on a hatred for her. While the Yondaime was popular, it didn't insulate Naruto completely, and Naruto also acknowledged that some might be jealous of his position. Then there was the fact that Takiko might just not want to deal with a teammate who was three years younger than she was.

It wasn't as if Naruto particularly cared. He had his friends already and wasn't in special search of another, although he would of course welcome more. His father had told him that it was impossible to please everyone, and Naruto had seen that first hand in group projects and in his social interactions. However, he would have to work with Takiko, so they needed to get this issue resolved.

Atsuya was looking elsewhere as he shrugged. "She is the same to everyone. You are not unique in Kida's hatred of you."

Well. That was both nice and problematic.

On one hand an issue with attitude meant Takiko didn't object to working with him specifically. On the other hand it suggested she would probably object to working with anyone period.

"Hey, so what did you realize when you were questioning our future sensei?" Naruto asked instead, moving the topic onto other things. He was just going to spin his mind in circles trying to think of a solution.

Atsuya looked to Naruto sharply, his lips mouthing the word 'our'. It took Naruto a second to comprehend why Atsuya had focused on it, but by then the other boy was replying.

"You're too perceptive, Namikaze-san," Atsuya said, his gaze appraising.

"Like you're one to talk," Naruto snorted. He could have kicked himself. An offhand mention of 'our' should have bypassed anyone else's attention, but of course Souma Atsuya would take note of it and what it had to mean. Naruto, the son of the Hokage, was convinced that they would all be a team together.

He felt his hands get clammy and resisted the urge to cast his eyes aside and begin whistling. He really hoped he hadn't screwed up anything for Sumina's test.

Atsuya hummed noncommittally. His gaze roved forward, but Naruto could tell by his body language he was still very aware of the smaller blond. "What is it that you think I realized?"

"Ugh," Naruto groaned. He had enough of this kind of thing from his father, Jiraiya-sensei, Kakashi nii-san, and Kabuto combined. He had half a mind to say 'never mind', except he really did want to know what kind of thinker his new teammate was. So he sucked it up.

He thought back to that conversation. He tried to recall every single word that was said, and in what order. While he didn't have every-graphic memory like his friend Kabuto did, he had been taught _how_ to remember things should he really require it. His father taught him the techniques so that he wouldn't mess up his seals and accidentally blow himself up. Later Kabuto had explained that they could also be used for eavesdropping and reporting dialogue from enemy ninja.

Personally, Naruto found it to be a great way to collect blackmail information on Jiraiya.

"You don't think that Sumina could really fail us?" Naruto hazarded. He thought it was okay to be talking about this theory. His father had never really talked about the graduation exams in detail and certainly hadn't discussed this with Naruto, so it wasn't like Naruto was breaking confidence. "Your questions were based on how arbitrary this test would be, and it is pretty unlikely that members of clans would not be allowed to become genin on the off chance that they receive an infeasible test."

Atsuya, despite waiting for a response, looked startled. Naruto inwardly grinned. Whatever the other boy said, he obviously _hadn't_ expected Naruto to guess correctly.

"It's something like that," he murmured quietly.

"But not all of it, right?" Naruto pressed.

For a long moment Atsuya did not reply, looking as if he were holding an inner debate. Letting out a breath, the dark haired boy seemed to come to a decision, and nodded. "In truth, every piece of information Maruoka-san gave us was suspicious. Can you really try again if you fail? If that were the case, where are the graduates during the school year? Nobody sees them on Academy grounds, nor are any seen taking the final exams, otherwise the fact that there is a second test would be widespread knowledge. Added to that, the thirty-three per cent failure rate means usually only around ten people become shinobi per year, but are our ninja forces really so small? None of it adds up."

"Wow," Naruto breathed. He stared, eyes wide.

"Yes," Atsuya's brows furrowed. "You've said the test has already begun. I wonder what else we're supposed to have figured out. So far that is as deep as I've gotten."

"No, I mean wow! That deduction's amazing!" Naruto exploded. He waved his arms, voice rising as he tried to exemplify just how cool he thought his new teammate was. "I didn't even think about all of that until you brought it up, but you must have realized it on the spot, right? And you asked such innocent sounding questions, but it was all to confirm your theories. That's just wow!"

Atsuya, for his part, looked utterly stupefied. "What?"

"I mean you're awesome," Naruto explained, feeling excitement bubble up within him. He really was impressed. He was considered a prodigy, but he kinda thought that was because his dad was such a great teacher. He could have never thought up of something like this. And he always admired talent.

Atsuya did not look like he knew how to respond. Before Naruto could add anything more, they came upon the training grounds.

Their future sensei was already there, sitting atop a log at the edge of the grounds and idly flipping through the pages of a small brown book. Despite her relaxed posture, she seemed intensely focused the contents of the tome.

She made no comment on their arrival. Naruto and Atsuya glanced at each other before mutually deciding to stay silent. They were both serious shinobi and they allowed the task to take precedence over light conversation. They cased the place. Since it was a training ground, it was easy to conclude that the test would consist of some kind of fight. If they had more time to prepare, so much the better.

Finally Takiko burst through. Naruto's senses picked up on it just before she came into view, hands on her knees and breathing hard. Green eyes fell on the two immaculate boys, and kunoichi graduate sneered.

Sumina stood up, snapping her book shut as she turned an unconcerned gaze on the three candidate genin. "You are all present. It is fifteen minutes before the appointed hour, so I will begin explaining the exam if you have no complaints?"

Three heads shook as one. There was one thing at least the students had in common, and that was the desire to become true ninja as quickly as possible.

"Very well then." Sumina said flatly. "First of all, I would like to be clarifying something. Normally the examinations would feature a team challenge. You are meant to fight or search for your jounin instructor, and as such, a pass or fail depends on how well the team does against said jounin. I however am not here to be the sensei to a genin team."

Naruto sucked in a startled breath. Takiko's eyes widened.

"My time is valuable. I have completed more S ranked missions than the years you have lived. What I am looking for is an apprentice."

"Ha!" Takiko let out a loud laugh. She pointed a finger at the jounin, all brass and overconfidence. "You can ditch these two losers now. I'm the one you need!"

"Wait, but—" Naruto's head was spinning. It wasn't going to be a team exercise? Kakashi was unique in making his test _about_ teamwork, but he'd never heard of a genin exam which did not employ it at all.

Apprenticeships though—they did happen. Kabuto had entered an apprenticeship shortly after he became chuunin, although his reasons were because of the politics of the hospital than any educational purpose.

Atsuya frowned.

"That makes little sense," the raven haired boy said quietly, his dark eyes never leaving the jounin. "Objectively, we are the three best graduates of this year, whatever my personal opinions on Kida may be—" This earned him a snarl. "—To give us a test which would ensure failure for two of us, would the village really do such a thing?"

"You overestimate how much the village cares about Academy students," Sumina replied, her voice lacking any tone at all. It was unnerving, because it was impossible to tell if she was amused or annoyed or if she cared at all about them. "And it is precisely because the three of you are the best that you even have this opportunity in the first place. Your grades have allowed you to open this door, but the final decision cannot be made based on grades alone. If you wish to drop out now and join another team who has yet to be evaluated, you may do so. In the time that it took for you to find these grounds, I have already asked for the other jounin instructors to accept you."

The three exchanged a glance. Takiko practically growled at them to disappear. Naruto bristled, and decided then and there he wouldn't leave. Atsuya didn't seem to have any intention of moving in the first place. They stayed.

"Then," Sumina calmly drew a rusted compass from her pouch and held it up in front of them. "Your objective is this. In a few moments, I will disappear from your sights and relocate to another spot within these grounds. The person who is able to deliver this compass to me will become genin."

"A Battle Royale?" Atsuya muttered.

Takiko grinned savagely, showing all teeth. "Perfect. Just what I wanted. I'll be the one to win it!"

Naruto exhaled. Whatever suspicions he still held about this being a hidden test evaporated then and there. There was no time limit and no indication they would have to fight a jounin, which meant there was absolutely no reason in which the three graduates should have to work together. Besides, considering Kakashi nii-san's fail rate, it was probable that the genin exams were actually supposed to be fairly straightforward. In any case, he'd think about this after he got the compass.

"You won't win," Naruto said determinedly. "I will."

Naruto sheepishly realized that he had acted under assumptions instead of observations. He'd been completely blindsided by Sumina's actions. It just showed how much he still had to learn.

But, he was going to become genin no matter what. His friends and family had all expressed their belief in Naruto's abilities as a ninja, and he wasn't going to fail this very first step. He would have liked to be on a team with Atsuya, but this was just as well, since he couldn't imagine doing missions with Takiko.

The dark haired woman gazed upon all of them, blue eyes hooded. Suddenly, she threw the compass high into the air. Rusted gold glinted under the sunlight. Three pairs of eyes followed the trajectory of the toss, awaiting.

"…begin."

Naruto and Takiko leapt as one towards the compass.

Takiko reached it first, her height lending her advantage. Her hands clasped around the small round object just as Naruto sent a whirling kick at her midsection. Takiko moved her arms down to block, crossing them to grant her durability.

Naruto didn't waste an instant. Twisting his ankle, he used the girl's crossed wrists as a footrest and contorted mid-air. She snarled, quickly flinging down her arms in order not to give him any more room to manoeuvre, but by then the action was too late. Naruto aimed a jab towards her throat. She reacted by jerking her head away.

They both landed back on the ground, still engaged. Takiko raised a foot in a kick as soon as she gained solid ground and solid balance. Naruto was ready for her though, his other hand ducking under his elbow and meeting her knee to prevent the shot. They exchanged a flurry of blows, but neither managed to connect a clean hit. Takiko was stronger, but Naruto's reflexes were better.

They sprang apart as if by mutual agreement. Naruto's opponent was breathing hard, but it didn't seem to deter her.

"Give up," Takiko growled. "Trash like you won't win anyway."

Admiration had begun to fill Naruto's being when his opponent was able to match everything he threw at her. That admiration quickly withered with her ill-mannered attitude. Honestly, he had enough! Blue eyes narrowing, Naruto shifted his stance, widening his feet and moving one arm behind his back.

"Why don't we see, then?" He challenged, welcoming the girl with a small beckoning gesture. It was an insult, showing her only one arm. It left his form full of openings.

Takiko snarled, and dashed forward with a speed that was hard to follow. She reached Naruto in an instant, slamming her elbow towards his stomach, a weakness which she easily perceived. The thing was, Naruto didn't leave himself full of openings by mistake.

He twisted his body with the slightests of movements, allowing her knuckles to brush across the fabric of his clothes. In the same moment, he caught her arm just as she slid past. She'd overbalanced with the attack—she could not help it. He had forced her to.

She was quick to counter, but he was quicker. Rather, he had predicted _how_ she would counter. He had lifted his leg a half second before she lifted hers, and it allowed him to trap her limb in place. With a yell of frustration, Takiko slammed her free palm towards Naruto's head, no doubt hoping to knock him out.

Her palm stopped an inch in front of Naruto's temple. Her eyes bugged out, and her face showed a mangled expression of surprise and pain. With a disbelieving 'kuk', she slid to the floor, consciousness falling away from her. Naruto let her trapped leg go. The hand which had been holding Takiko's arm hostage had already moved away, having struck the side of the girl's neck with unerring precision.

Naruto breathed deeply, taking a moment to collect himself. The form he'd just used had been a style his father had taught him for the possibility of going up against higher level opponents. It deliberately left openings that were also traps, if one knew how to take advantage of them. The dangers were that if he didn't pay attention, he could get a fatal injury pretty quickly. Dad didn't like him using it for that reason. Of course, such dangers were a lot less prevalent when the user was a jinchuuriki.

It was a style heavily reliant on his ability to predict his opponent's movements. In that sense, it was not unlike the third stage of the Uchiha's sharingan. It allowed an exchange to become dependent on the user's intelligence rather than his reflexes. It was meant for taking on a taijutsu master with a speed greater than Naruto's own, should he ever be forced into such a battle.

And Takiko's speed was no greater than his.

Naruto bent down to take the compass from the sleeping figure—

It was just then that a slew of kunai came spiralling from within the woods, aiming directly for Naruto's body. He didn't waste a second, snatching the compass from the red head's tight grip and rolling out of the way. He was positioned in a crouch in an instant, face turned towards the origin of the assault.

"That was a cheap attack," Naruto complained loudly, dropping the compass into a pocket. A second later, he narrowed his eyes. "And an ineffective one, but you're not an ineffective person, are you?"

Souma Atsuya stepped out from behind a tree. His posture was languid, but his gaze was alert. "You moved too quickly for me to follow up on the kunai. After immediate victory, most would relax their guard for a moment. You didn't, though."

Realization slammed into Naruto like a sledgehammer. "You wanted us to fight it out and take out the winner."

"It's the common strategy in a situation like this," Atsuya's eyes flickered down to Takiko's form. "Of course, I never expected Kida to win in the first place, but I hoped she might take a bit of your stamina."

Naruto grinned, "And you're confident that you can take down the rest of me?"

Atsuya took out a scroll from behind him. He waved out the roll of paper, and Naruto caught a brief glimpse of a chakra ink scrawled in a complicated pattern. The dark haired boy lifted his other hand and the space before him shimmered. From the page, Atsuya drew a blade that became progressively longer, until finally the end ripped free from its dimensional repository. The now empty storage scroll fell to the ground with a clatter.

Naruto's eyes widened, "Kenjutsu?"

"Yes," Atsuya confirmed. He took two swings to test the weight of his unsealed katana before dropping into a half crouch with his right foot to the front. "Kida was the best at taijutsu in our class, and you defeated her within minutes. While some may say it's unfair to use a ranged weapon against someone unarmed, I'm not taking any chances."

Naruto could not help but grin. Atsuya was correct in his evaluation of course. Despite having 'weaponry', it really would be difficult to land a hit using pure taijutsu if the opponent had a sword.

Despite what was preached about age not signifying ability, Naruto had found that most people simply couldn't reconcile that with reality. They had to all know it in their heads, but Naruto had yet to really see somebody who'd acted like that with their heart too. Even Shirou, Yuuta, and Kaoru tended to watch out for Naruto physically even when they depended on him for knowledge. Kabuto was probably the only exception to that. Atsuya though, Atsuya had taken him seriously from the start.

The dark haired boy rushed him.

 _Slinnng_. Metal met metal as two kunai appeared in Naruto's hands from seemingly nowhere, barely blocking one of Atsuya's swings. Sparks flew through the air as sharp clangs of steel to echoed within the area. Atsuya's sword flowed like water, each stroke connecting seamlessly into the next and hardly giving Naruto any chances to pull back.

But Naruto was not the son of the Yellow Flash for nothing. The moment Atsuya's slash went too wide, Naruto moved. He bent his body backwards and threw the kunai he held towards the dark haired boy. Atsuya instinctively twisted to dodge one, but had to pull his sword to deflect the other. Naruto took that opportunity to kick himself back, out of the dark haired boy's range.

He didn't waste a second. Fingers flashing through a sequence of handseals, Naruto landed in a crouch and expelled a torrent of water from his mouth. It wasn't life threatening as if he'd used the attack with elements like fire or lightning, but it would knock Atsuya out.

Atsuya threw himself to the side. He barely managed to avoid the cascade, and Naruto was already preparing another jutsu. Atsuya used his free hand to break his fall and flip himself back into a fighting stance. Naruto unleashed a fireball, but this time Atsuya responded with an attack rather than an evasion. Naruto didn't see Atsuya perform the handseals, view blocked by his own technique, but he did see the trail of mud he'd created with his torrent of water erupt.

Pure liquid ripped itself free from watery earth and leapt to Atsuya's side. It was just in time to block Naruto's ball of fire. Steam hissed through the air, momentarily filling the area.

Vision obscured, Naruto let his chakra buildup for the third consecutive attack dissipate. It was a single target jutsu and therefore useless when he could not be sure where his target was. He rose to change positions, because it wasn't a smart idea to stay where he was last seen, when the steam cleared up.

Atsuya hadn't actually moved from his position either. The only difference seemed to be that he had drawn a kunai and had shifted his sword stance. His sword was pointed at Naruto and his elbows were bent with the handle of his sword invisible from Naruto's view. The stance invited Naruto to misjudge the length of the attack should Atsuya choose to thrust forward.

He threw the kunai. The throw was clear and precise, aimed directly for his chest. Any normal genin might have had to thrust themselves out of the pathway to avoid it cleanly. It would have certainly disrupted their form enough for the older student to take advantage.

And then Atsuya dashed forward.

But Naruto was no ordinary academy student. He bent his knees slightly as the kunai reached him, allowing the weapon to go over his shoulder. It did not stop his rush. He met Atsuya head on, aiming a kick towards the dark haired boy's head.

A small smile flitted across Atsuya's face.

Atsuya disappeared in a poof of smoke, a kunai taking his place. Blue eyes widened, because he'd seen this kind of thing from his father so many times. Before he knew what he was doing, Naruto was whirling around, although he knew it was impossible, impossible, impossible—

Except that it wasn't. Atsuya had appeared behind him, slashing his blade towards Naruto. It was a complete surprise. Naruto hadn't felt his presence at all!

It took him a second to decide that it must have been Replacement. His father's Flying Thunder God technique was different and not so easy to replicate, but the kunai appearing in the place of where Atsuya had been suggested the academy jutsu. Replacement with a moving object was supposed to be impossible but Atsuya was super smart so maybe he found a way around it or something? This was crazy though!

Naruto's body, thankfully, was still able to react even though his mind was a mess. The kick he had aimed towards where Atsuya had been helped shift his momentum so that he was able to narrowly avoid Atsuya's sword. And this kind of attack was risky for Atsuya as well. The biggest benefit of using a long weapon was the range it afforded, but bringing the fight to close quarters made it a detriment.

Atsuya was open for a tenth of a second after his swing, and Naruto used it to his full advantage. His hand snaked out, making to grab for Atsuya's wrist to disable his attacks. Atsuya raised a knee to counter but Naruto had already calculated that, bringing one elbow down to disrupt the other's movement.

Except his elbow passed through Atsuya's knee. A moment later, his grab passed through the boy's wrist. Atsuya's form shimmered then.

Blue eyes widened as realization crashed into the blond.

Clone!

He twisted around, but by then it was too late. The 'kunai' that had been 'Replaced' lost its form and the real Atsuya appeared. Atsuya sliced through the fabric of Naruto's pants and snatching the compass. In that same moment he kicked the blond, hard. Naruto was a second too slow in responding. He was sent flying, landing and skidding across the ground for good measure.

Atsuya didn't waste an instant. From his pouch he withdrew a handful of smoke bombs and detonated all of them, swelling the place with gas and covering his own escape.

Naruto lay where he had been pushed to for a single second, simply in awe of the strategy used against him. Atsuya hadn't used any fancy jutsu. He'd used his sword stance to hide what his fingers were doing while performing the necessary hand seals. And then he'd used a Transformation technique to make himself look like the kunai he'd thrown earlier, all the while using a Clone to take the place of the actual kunai. Using Naruto's few seconds of confusion, Atsuya had been able to complete his objective.

It was something his father would have praised, he was sure.

Naruto flipped to his feet, hands flipping through familiar seals at a speed too quick for the eye to see. "Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"

A burst of wind erupted from Naruto, blowing back everything in his vicinity. The smoke which had filled the air vanished in a whirl of air, and every plant in the environment bent back from the force of Naruto's jutsu. Only one figure did not move, and that was the figure Naruto focused on.

Atsuya had braced himself against a tree at the edge of the blast. His expression was one of surprise, but it seemed he had managed to avoid the brunt of the damage in spite of it. Injury hadn't been what Naruto had been aiming for however. Atsuya's plan, in the end, had been counting on his ability to hide and escape in the aftermath of stealing the compass. Naruto had all but blown that option away by exposing Atsuya's position.

The trees swayed as they snapped back into their regular posture, but by then Naruto was already shooting towards his opponent.

Atsuya moved too. Flipping through his own set of seals, Atsuya slammed his hands against the ground. A large wall of earth ruptured from the ground, masking the other's movements. Naruto grinned and responded with a C rank fire technique which homed in on its target, while never slowing down his body's forward momentum. The fireballs would distract Atsuya, allowing Naruto enough time to leap upwards and flip over the earth wall. He was just in time to see the dark haired boy destroy the last of the globes of ember by leading it to a nearby tree and twisting away at the last second, allowing the orb to detonate against wood rather than skin.

The dark haired boy looked up.

A ninjutsu match took the place of their previous taijutsu one. They skipped through the forest, going through a range of D and C rank techniques. Atsuya performed a lot less than Naruto, but the ones he did use were impressive and always timed exactly right. Still, it was clear he was tiring.

"Even if you are the son of the Hokage," Atsuya landed atop a tree branch in their latest moment of respite. His chest was heaving as he struggled to draw breath. "You are too ridiculous. Why did you hold off graduating if your abilities were already this high?"

"Dad wanted me to learn a few things first," Naruto admitted through his own pants. He wasn't nearly as badly off as the other boy, but he too was thankful for the small break.

It had taken the year and a half to master the toad summoning technique and make use of its ability to send out messages. Likely Naruto could have gotten it in a shorter amount of time, if all he concentrated on was the technique, but in between classes and friends and other lessons from his father he hadn't been able to spend all that much time on it.

Still. Like Atsuya was one to talk. "How about you? You haven't been fighting at Academy level, either."

A strange expression crossed Atsuya's face then. It was almost amused, except it really, really, was not. "My father is my reason too, I suppose."

Naruto thought about asking. He also recognized that it wouldn't be appreciated at the moment.

"Fighting you has been fun," Naruto said instead, grinning. His blood was on fire and he sang with the battle. He hadn't thought he could be pushed this hard by a recent Academy graduate.

 _I guess it just goes to show,_ he thought with a hint of sheepishness, _how arrogant I've gotten. I should really watch that._

If it weren't for his Uzumaki heritage, if it weren't for his status as a host, he was sure he would have lost by now. However, Naruto did have those advantages.

"But," Naruto breathed in deeply, "I'll outlast you."

"I know," Atsuya agreed evenly. His limbs were trembling as he threw the compass at Naruto, who caught it in surprise.

Then Atsuya pushed himself away from the blond with a resounding force and disappeared into the foliage.

Naruto's mouth dropped open, stupefied. "Wha…?"

He stared after the vanished brunette in confusion. His guard had never dropped during their conversation and no matter how he looked at it, Atsuya's course of action was strange. Rising to his feet, Naruto glanced around, taking in every detail before him, trying to figure out if Atsuya had hidden with the intention of catching him off guard.

Had… Atsuya given up then?

And then his eyes widened when he realized something wasn't right about the scenery around him.

Cursing, Naruto rammed his fingers together, "Kai!"

The illusion which Atsuya had put up shattered like a mirror. Most of the surroundings remained the same. The compass which Naruto had been holding onto however, dissolved into small particles of light. He stared at his empty hand for a moment before immediately bounding off after the brunette. Genjutsu was Naruto's one big weakness. He had enough chakra control to perform a couple of D-class ones, but detecting them was difficult.

Atsuya had used their brief conversation to set up a mirage layer over their current setting. The compass he'd given Naruto was meant to confuse him, and prevent the blond from chasing after the older boy. And then Atsuya had made off for Sumina, of course, because the objective of this game wasn't to beat up your opponents, but to retrieve the item in question.

"Aways been pants at sensing," Naruto muttered to himself, blue eyes glinting in determination. "I won't lose though."

Still, Atsuya's genjutsu had been amazing. Because Naruto's chakra control was only average at best, Naruto usually detected genjutsu through observation. Weight, smell, texture, appearance were all things Naruto could by now subconsciously keep track of. Although Atsuya had been distracting Naruto too, his genjutsu had nonetheless fooled Naruto's senses for a few minutes. It spoke volumes about the dark haired boy's own skills of perception.

Naruto swept his eyes over the area, but of course Atsuya hadn't left anything for him to track the other by. With a sigh, Naruto sat, and tried to think of another method of victory.

After a moment he stood up, and made his way back to the beginnings of the training grounds. He gritted his teeth at the thought of how much time he would lose, but thankfully after their exhausting fight it was likely that the older student would be moving much slower.

Takiko was no longer there. Naruto didn't expect her to be unconscious forever. Now that the adrenaline was fading however he did feel a sliver of guilt for how he defeated her. It had been overkill to use the style he did. But Takiko's disposition had made him mad, and he'd wanted to show her up, badly. He already knew that Dad was going to be disappointed when Naruto told him.

Shaking his head to clear himself of such thoughts until a more appropriate time, he began scanning the area for clues.

Sumina had asked for them to find her at the end of their Battle Royale. It meant that she had to have left tracks which were obvious enough for academy students to follow. For a moment Naruto wondered if he should wait here for Atsuya to come back and try to follow the indicated path, but then he realized that Atsuya probably already knew where they led.

While Naruto and Takiko had been fighting, Atsuya would have had plenty of time to figure out whatever hints Sumina had left them.

Despite himself, Naruto felt a smile tug the corner of his lip upwards. His title of genin was on the line, but he couldn't help but be impressed at every turn. He'd really underestimated his opponents.

His father had always taught him not to belittle his competition, but it was one thing to know that and to _know_ that. The Academy hadn't been a challenge to him from day one, and whenever he fought against his fellow students he always had to hold back the majority of his strength. Even Shirou's genin team couldn't defeat him now in one-on-one matches.

Finally he found the signs. Using his fastest speed, Naruto shot off towards where he was sure Sumina was waiting.

The jounin was indeed exactly where she said she would be, no tricks. She was reading her book again, leaning against a tree at the edge of a large clearing. Naruto just saw her through a criss cross of tree trunks.

He saw Atsuya emerge from another angle, sprinting towards their sensei with fierce concentration. The smaller blond gritted his teeth and sped up. At this rate he really might fail!

And then Naruto saw something shift in his periphery. Woodland creatures were constantly making minuscule movements, and as ninja were taught to make their presence as unobtrusive as possible, they often did not scare the natural creatures away. Still, it was ingrained in every shinobi to always be on the lookout.

And it was because of that reason that Naruto noticed something strange. Something in his senses felt off about the spot he'd seen. It caused him to hesitate. He took a step closer almost subconsciously. And it was because of his increased scrutiny that he caught a flash of red hair.

Blue eyes widened as he quickly realized what the presence meant. His head whipped towards the older graduate.

"NO!" Naruto yelled. "ST—"

The dark haired boy paid no attention, no doubt attributing it to a ploy of distraction. And it was then that the area around him exploded into fire.

A loud BOOM sent Naruto's ears ringing as a number of combustions set themselves off in a wide area circling where Atsuya had been. The explosion echoed through the forest, sending a shockwave from the denotation point and causing nearby trees to bend over from the force of its wind. Dust was sent up in whirlwinds from the blast.

Naruto forgot to breathe.

"Gods, why'd you have to try and warn him?" Takiko grumbled as she stood up from her hiding place in the foliage. She had obviously figured out that Naruto had seen her, and didn't see much point in continued concealment. "Didn't even get to set it off at the right time because of that. And this trap was perfect."

Naruto couldn't even think to snap at her. His mind was static.

He couldn't believe—he couldn't believe—

The dust cleared. Nothing save broken tree branches and jagged shards of rock broke from the ground. There was a new clearing now in the training ground and it was completely charred. Naruto held his breath and looked up. There, descending to the newly desecrated grounds was their jounin instructor, carrying a disgruntled looking Atsuya in her arms.

Naruto nearly sagged in relief. It took only a moment to understand what must have happened. Despite Sumina's seeming disinterest in what they were doing, she must have been overlooking their actions. When she saw one of the students in danger, she had intercepted. Atsuya was fine.

"Wow," Takiko said, sounding disgusted. "That's unfair. If sensei hadn't interfered, I'd have that compass now."

Naruto's heart skipped a beat. With a snarl he flashed to Takiko's side, slugging her in the face and sending her to sprawling to the ground.

"Do you even care about what you just did?" Naruto screamed at her. "This is just a test! You didn't have to go that far!"

Takiko looked up, a hand on her bruising cheek and a startled expression on her face. And then her eyes narrowed, gaining a wild look to them as she leapt to her feet again, "Test?! That's all that you children think about the ninja world! Test, test, test! Well guess what, we're trying to be _shinobi_ now! It's real life, so grow up!"

"Don't you dare talk to me about what it means to be shinobi," Naruto growled. He was the Jinchuriki of the Kyuubi no Kitsune. His father was the Hokage. He had seen people nearly die from pointless fights to gain power. "It's not about maiming your fellow Konoha ninja!"

"For someone who's lauded as a prodigy, you sure are dumb," Takiko snorted. There was an ugly sneer on her face. "Being a ninja doesn't mean skipping around in rainbows and shit. It's about killing people who get in your way. This is why I hate people like you—growing up so sheltered but thinking you know better than all of us just because of your parents—"

"As opposed to you!" Naruto cut in sharply. Memories flashed across the surface of his mind. An argument and a burning field. He'd promised to never use his observational skills to hurt anyone like he'd hurt his father then. But screw that! This girl deserved it! "You think you're so cynical because something bad has happened to you in the past. Well guess what! You're here in Konoha now and you're safe, and you're a kid, same as me. If I don't know anything, neither do you!"

Takiko was turning as red as a tomato. She opened her mouth to snarl out a reply, but it was then that Sumina reached them.

"The test is finished," she said in that same bland tone of hers, as if she hadn't just had to save a student because another one valued a pass over a life. "Congratulations, you three are now genin."

Her statement caused Naruto and Takiko to stop short, both whirling to stare at her. Atsuya was following half a pace behind the woman, but he didn't seem any more prepared than they were by her answer, if his widening eyes were anything to go by.

"Your offer of an apprenticeship was false," Naruto whispered in realization. He could not believe he had not seen it, yet at the same time, the dark haired woman had been incredible at misleading them. "You just wanted to assess how we'd react in a simulated mission scenario."

Now that he was no longer competing, he could see the exam for what it was—a retrieval and delivery mission in unfamiliar territory surrounded by enemies. It was an evaluation of how they would act under pressure, of their methods and abilities in completing a mission individually. Sumina had basically just tested for everything that made one suitable for a shinobi.

"Correct," Sumina confirmed. "Konoha works on a team based system and exclusive apprenticeships for genin are detrimental to the order. Of course, you may seek an apprenticeship outside of your team, but that is on your own time. As long as two of you were past my desired level of ability, I would have passed the three of you, but you all managed to do very well."

Naruto felt pride bloom in his chest, only for it to be quashed a moment later when he discerned the implications of all that she had said. "Wait, Takiko was ready to kill a fellow Konoha nin!"

"It's fine," Atsuya interrupted. "It was my mistake for stepping into that trap." He turned to Takiko then. "You even used my own strategy against me, waiting for the victor between Namikaze-san and I. Humiliating as it is for me, it was an intelligent thing to do."

Naruto gritted his teeth, hand closing into a tight fist. In some ways it couldn't be helped that Atsuya failed to dodge the explosions. He and Atsuya had an exhaustive fight, and unlike Naruto, his new teammate was not a jinchuriki with nearly endless reserves. Takiko had seen that the dark haired boy slowed and used it to her advantage.

It was clever, sure, but also completely rotten.

"It doesn't make it right!" Naruto argued back. "She could have seriously hurt you! She could have killed you! Are you really going to just let her—"

"Namikaze-san," Atsuya's voice was cold enough to freeze fire in its tracks. "Her actions were against me, not you."

Naruto's mouth opened, and closed. What…?

"Alright, now that that's resolved," Sumina said flatly, "you may all take the rest of the day to yourselves. Meet me here at 8 am for training on Thursday. In the afternoon we will conduct a mission. That will be all."

She disappeared in a swirl of leaves before any of them could even think of asking anything.

Takiko snorted, also turning to leave. She glanced back at them, a sneer of disgust painted across her features, "Tch, if I knew I'd have to work with you two, I might have tried to fail instead."

Naruto trembled with anger. He opened his mouth to snap back a retort, when he caught sight of Atsuya's face. His eyes were black with hate. It was enough to shock Naruto out of his own ire. Takiko left by then, but Naruto hardly noticed.

"Souma-san?" Naruto asked hesitantly.

That seemed to snap the dark haired boy out of it. He turned to Naruto, expression smoothing out again, and voice utterly neutral. "Namikaze-san."

"Are you…" _Alright_? But Naruto found that he suddenly couldn't ask it. Everything in the other boy's posture told Naruto it wouldn't be appreciated. He swallowed, and shook his head. Instead, he forced some cheer into his voice. "Hey, you don't need to be so formal! Call me Naruto. We're teammates now."

Atsuya paused. And then he sighed. "Is that so?"

"Huh?"

"Do you know what position in the Academy I graduated at?" Atsuya asked suddenly.

Naruto nodded, unsure of where this was going. "Rookie of the Year."

"I was," Atsuya confirmed. "But not because of any genius intellect or talent. Tanaka Souji and Hyuuga Hisato had more of that than me. I am not particularly special, naturally. I was at the top because I _wanted_ it, and no one else seems to understand want."

"Oh…" Naruto didn't recognize the names, but presumably they were the other top graduates. He didn't quite believe that Atsuya was ordinary, considering the way he had fought in the forest, but then the meaning behind the other's words hit Naruto. Blue eyes widened. "But isn't that more amazing? You beat everyone through hard work."

"Hard work." Surprisingly, Atsuya laughed. It wasn't a pleased laugh. "Well, it's certainly played its role, but those who only know how to work hard are still only labouring ants. I think you've misunderstood something, Namikaze-san. The essence is desire."

"Desire?" Naruto thought back to their brief battle during the exam. He'd gotten caught up in the fun of the spar, but Atsuya had never forgotten what the real objective was, had he? "I think I understand."

"You wish for us to become friends." Atsuya had changed tracts again. He clasped his hands behind his back, looking to the sky. "That is at the heart of why you wish for me to address you informally, is it not?"

"Well of course," Naruto smiled shakily. There was a part of him which saw where this was going, and he wish it didn't. "You're a pretty awesome guy."

"Then, Namikaze-san," Atsuya stressed. "As a teammate, allow me to make my thoughts perfectly clear to you. I have no desire to become your friend. I believe we'll work well together, and it's because I respect you that I want to make clear that this is a professional relationship. I do not want you to misunderstand."

"O—oh." Naruto wasn't an idiot. He perfectly comprehended what Atsuya was implying with his roundabout talk. Friendship was an interruption to shinobi work.

"I am glad we understand each other," Atsuya inclined his head in goodbye as he turned and began to move away.

Naruto jerked forward, "Friendship—it's not a distraction."

Atsuya paused then. There was a strange quality in his voice—almost a hint of warning. "Respect me when I say it would be detrimental to the both of us."

And then he was gone, before the blond could question it further, leaving Naruto alone in the field.

* * *

 **Q &A**: I saw this on another work and thought it was a clever idea. However it also makes the chapter appear longer than it is and I'm not sure if anyone actually reads this stuff. So vote now whether you want me to continue with Q&As in the future or not.

 _ **What is everyone wearing? You didn't describe their clothes.**_

Yes hum, there is a good reason for that. I'm the last person you want to design your clothes. Naruto has orange somewhere—in a world of genjutsu and chakra-sensors, I doubt the colour of one's clothing would be a serious stealth problem. Personally I liked the Naruto: The Last movie outfit, so probably some chibi form of that. Atsuya would likely have something fashionable, curtesy of his mother. Takiko would wear black and maybe some greens. Sumina is in standard jounin wear.

 _ **Why do your genin sound so mature? They don't talk like nine/twelve year olds!**_

Actually, I have a sibling who's in this age range, and she talks exactly like that. Obviously she can't discuss advanced physics with anyone, but her vocabulary and speech patterns are fairly close to Naruto's. I had actually planned to 'dumb it down' a little before I realized this. I think we have a tendency to underestimate children, and looking back to my first fanfiction when I was eleven, I had quite a few characters who spoke in a complex way which means that _I_ had the capacity of thinking that way. Added to that, children are adaptive creatures and tend to emulate the people they surround themselves with. Naruto's best friends are all a good deal older than him, so he acts older.

That being said, I did struggle with deciding how to portray Naruto. He is still only a child who has yet to hit puberty. On the other hand he is mentally above the others to the point where he can think of normal graduates as 'children'. It's a delicate balance to pull off and I'm not entirely sure if I've done it. In the end I decided to go with how I believe little!Kakashi and Itachi are canonically depicted. While their core line of thought is childish, they logic it out and present their thoughts very well, so it doesn't _seem_ childish. Truthfully I would have preferred to make Naruto a bit older, but I can't justify keeping him in the Academy any more than this.


	3. Duty

A/n: Since I'm so bad at updating, I've decided to do a recommendation for a Naruto story I feel is underrated every time I have a new chapter. That way you may have a new and longer story you can enjoy while waiting for the next instalment of The Hokage Thing. For your sake, I'll try to recommend stories that don't look like they've been abandoned.

 **Random Recommendation** : The Windmill Turns Both Ways by Blaizekit - basically, what happens when a Naruto from the past is taken to the future instead of the other way around? It's a novel idea and done amazingly well. The plot is gripping and the characters are spot on, and if you've liked the friendship in this series, you'll love it in that one. Plus, it's complete.

~.~

 _ **Chapter 02**_

 _Duty_

~.~

The weeks following didn't get any better.

Takiko remained rude and insulting. The only positive thing about that was Atsuya replying with cutting words that made the girl go red. As a result however, Takiko targeted Atsuya less and less, and focused solely on making Naruto as miserable as she could. He tried to ignore her, because he knew his father wouldn't tolerate fights or insult contests, but it only seemed to make her angrier. Atsuya was, as promised, helpful when discussing missions and training, but due to the line that he drew that first day, Naruto felt too uncomfortable around him to truly be himself.

Sumina was alright, Naruto guessed. She took them on missions once a week and supervised their training the rest of the time. She corrected their forms and gave them harsh workouts which Naruto knew to be beneficial to their bodies, but was gruelling as heck. Other than that however, she never spoke to them. Naruto also resented the fact that she barely glanced up from her books when she oversaw them. It was something he understood intellectually, because she was a jounin and a couple of genin couldn't really expect to capture her complete attention, but it was grating nonetheless.

The only silver lining seemed to be that the team only met up three times a week, so Naruto didn't have to see them that often.

So that led Naruto to some comfort eating at Ichiraku's for lunch. He was halfway through his second bowl when somebody dropped into a seat beside him, and reached for his head.

"Hey Naruto-kun," Shirou greeted as he gave the neat locks a forceful ruffle. He was grinning from ear to ear, despite the fact that his clothes were covered in dirt and his face stretched in exhaustion.

"Shirou!" Naruto beamed, instantly brightening. His chopsticks dropping back into thick noodle, Naruto whirled around. Sure enough, the dark haired and the spectacled genin were not far behind. He raised a hand to wave wildly at them. "Kaoru! Yuuta!"

He had met Shirou, Kaoru, and Yuuta back at the academy. More specifically, he had met the members of the future Team Eleven when he was wandering around the forest and they were doing a survival exercise. They were five years older and one of the first to truly accept him for him. One thing led to another and they had managed to stay friends for all these years.

"Yo," Kaoru saluted with a crooked grin. She pulled up the stool beside Naruto. Yuuta nodded in Naruto's direction before turning to the ramen chef, ordering for the three of them. "Man, it's like been forever since we saw you."

It had only been ten days or so, which was a pretty long period considering they were both in Konoha, but they had gone longer without contact. Though, as Naruto took in their appearances bemusedly, perhaps it wasn't about how much time had actually passed and more about how much it felt like had passed.

"Yeah, what happened to you?" Naruto asked curiously, looking the three of them over. Kaoru and Yuuta appeared no better than Shirou.

Shirou actually winced at that, drawing Naruto's attention. The dark haired boy shook his head, a wry smile on his face, "It's just the upcoming chuunin exams. Sochiro-sensei is putting us through the ringer in preparation for them."

"Oh yeah, you failed the last two times, didn't you?" Naruto remembered aloud.

Shirou crossed his arms and mock glared at him, "You don't have to put it like that! Brat."

Naruto only laughed.

"It is nothing to be ashamed of," Yuuta said, having finished his orders and turning back to the three of them. He adjusted his glasses. They glinted in the sunlight. "Many shinobi never even make it to chuunin excepting war times, and the rate of promotion for Konoha per exam is about two or three genin. Considering that, and that the exams are only hosted in places accessible to Konoha three or four times every three years, the amount of—"

"Yeah, yeah, we get it," Kaoru swatted Yuuta's head with a roll of her eyes, cutting him off. "You've only gone through this like a billion times. The average age a shinobi is promoted to chuunin is sixteen. If you're not in the acne age anymore and are still a genin, chances are you'll be stuck as a genin forever because villages only want to showcase their little prodigies, blah blah blah."

Yuuta looked highly offended at Kaoru's bastardization of his accounts. Naruto had taken the time to quickly finish the rest of his ramen but used this moment to cut in before it could escalate.

"So!" He said innocently, though from the amused look Shirou sent him, he didn't quite pull it off perfectly. "What do you think your chances are this time?"

The three exchanged a look. Yuuta was the one who answered, and his response was slow. "Well, the exams are held in Suna this year, which is allied with Konoha. Last time we were in Kumo who seemed intent on failing our teams. Unless Shirou messes up like last time, we should be able to pass."

Shirou looked insulted. "Oi! I'll have you know I—" And then he wilted before their eyes, slumping against the ramen stand. "Okay so I really messed that up."

Yuuta nodded seriously, although there was a glint in his eyes that spoke of good humour. "There really was nothing redeemable about the stunt you pulled."

"He was the shame of the Kumagai clan for a while there," Kaoru whispered in Naruto's ear. "His mother actually kicked him out of the house. Said 'don't come back until you learn the meaning of teamwork, and maybe some common sense from Yuuta!' He had to bum out with us for weeks."

Shirou flushed, actually looking embarrassed. It didn't happen very often. "I thought we promised to never to mention that again."

"Aw come on, it's Naru-chan," Kaoru complained.

"Yeah," Naruto grinned. "I'm like, special." And then he turned to grumble at Kaoru, "Stop calling me that."

"Oh yeah," Kaoru laughed. "Sorry 'bout that Naruto. Just slipped out." She winked at him. "I'm serious though, the girls will be calling you that all the time. Because no matter how much of a badass ninja you are, you look adorable."

"Ugh," Naruto groused. He had his fair share of shrieking girls back at the Academy. If there was one good thing about his new genin team, it was that he didn't have to deal with that anymore.

It was also probably the only good thing about Uchiha Sasuke—because he drew at least half the girls away. While he might not be the Yondaime's heir and the Rookie of the Year, he was the son of the Head of the Uchiha clan and a lot of people considered him to be 'cool'. Naruto wrinkled his nose. Well, Sasuke was that. He was cold to everyone, and seemed to have an obsession with beating Naruto.

Naruto really wasn't sure why Sasuke was so cantankerous, when his brother Itachi had to be one of the nicest people in the world. Sometimes he wondered if all the likeable genes had just gone to Itachi instead.

"In any case," Yuuta cut in, looking equally as uncomfortable with the topic as Naruto was. "The first time we attempted the chuunin exams, we failed the first portion. The second time, the second test. Logically, we should be able to make it to the third test this time and fail."

Kaoru snorted. Loudly. "There's nothing logical about that."

" _In any case_ ," Yuuta continued sternly. "We do not actually have to win the third portion to be promoted to chuunin. As long as we make a good showing, we should be able to rise up in rank."

"I wonder if my team could ever pass the chuunin exams," Naruto said glumly, slumping over the stand. "I can't see us pulling off the 'teamwork' well enough to pass the first two sections."

"Who knows," Shirou mused. "Your individual strengths might be monstrous enough to pull it off."

Team Eleven had barged into Naruto's home the day after Sumina's test and had demanded the details. He'd been met with shock and blank stares when he told them. Kaoru had even spat out her drink. Shirou patiently explained that in no way had that been a genin level fight. Naruto had not been entirely unaware of that. Clans consistently produced children who graduated the Academy above the regular genin level, and to best them as Atsuya and Takiko did, they had to even be above that.

Still. Naruto flicked his empty ramen bowl, frowning. "I wonder if that'll really be enough."

"You should ask for a C-rank mission," Yuuta said thoughtfully. "I've heard that they can really bring an uncooperative team together. Going through mutual danger helps to deepen care and regard for others."

Naruto pushed an elbow on the table, resting his cheek against the heel of his hand. "A C-rank?"

Team Five had only completed three missions so far, all of them rank D. Normally the Hokage wouldn't even consider sending a team who had so little history between them out of Konoha. But the members of Team Five were all above average in terms of ability, and Naruto was the Hokage's own son. That should count for something.

"I'll give it a try," Naruto decided. Beginning to feel more positive, he beamed at his friend. "Thanks for the suggestion, Yuuta."

It was just then that Teuchi came back with Team Eleven's steaming bowls of ramen. Just to accompany his friends, because he was so nice and all, Naruto ordered another bowl for himself. They spent the rest of the time catching up. Lunch break had to end however, and serious ninja business resumed.

"It's back to training," Shirou groaned, his head thumping against the table.

"Yeah, yeah, suck it up," Kaoru said unsympathetically as she stood. She grabbed Shirou's ear and gave it a hard tug, earning an 'ow you evil evilness', but did manage to get him out of Teuchi's shop.

"Goodbye, Naruto-kun," Yuuta said formally as he pushed up his glasses again. He smiled, and then turned to follow his wayward teammates.

"Bye," Naruto waved, before hopping off himself and thanking Teuchi for the meal. Then he made his way to the Hokage tower.

Villagers shouted out greetings along the way. He stopped by some and chatted happily with them, in no real hurry. And he loved their attention. It was a welcome change to the cold glares he used to receive when nobody was sure if he could really hold back the Kyuubi. One old lady even gave him a basket of fruit when he told her he was going to visit his father.

There was, perhaps, a small part of him that was dubious about the rapid transformation regarding the villagers' will. A hint of resentment at the fact that their shift in mentality coincided with the Yondaime's recovery, rather than anything Naruto did. Kabuto had been the one to bring it up, and Naruto hadn't been able to get it out of his mind since then. But even so, it was vastly preferable to the alternative, and there was little he could do about it anyways.

Finally he made his way to the base of the Hokage tower. Two Uchiha guards nodded at him as they let him through.

Tensions were still high with the clan, but the Yondaime's declaration that it had been Uchiha Madara acting alone the night of the Kyuubi Attack had for the moment, delayed confrontation. Suspicions still ran high regarding the Uchiha, but with the Yondaime backing them, there was little the other clans could do about it.

His father and the Sandaime discussed the issue often, of that Naruto was sure. The Yellow Flash never showed a hint of anxiety while they were at home, but sometimes when they were walking the streets, Naruto would catch a worried glance towards the Uchiha police from his father.

Intellectually, Naruto thought he understood the problem. Bad relations equalled bad performance. There had even been a time where it seemed like the Uchiha might be planning a coup d'etat. But at the heart of it, Naruto had a hard time connecting with the issue.

The Uchiha always treated him and the civilians quite nicely. They could act snobby towards other shinobi, but derision couldn't truly hurt anyone. Naruto knew he had to be missing something, because his father didn't make mistakes, but it didn't feel to him as if the Uchiha thing were a big problem.

Naruto beamed at the two officers and pushed open the door.

The secretary's desk was located at the other end of the circular lobby. There wasn't really any security reason for it, because if an intruder had already forced his way halfway through the village and into the Hokage Tower, a clerk could hardly stop them. But sometimes there were large volumes of people who waited for an appointment with the Hokage, and a spacious area at the base allowed for an exceptional seating area.

A civilian in his late forties or so was manning the desk. Currently he was working furiously on a half completed sheet of paper. Naruto didn't recognize him, so he figured it must be someone new. But Naruto was always willing to make friends.

He skipped over, using a mixture of balance and chakra control to not bruise the fruit the old lady had given him.

His form had cast a shadow over the secretary's work. The man looked up, a hint of annoyance on his features, though it didn't seem to be directed at Naruto specifically. Then confusion settled in as he took in the fact that it was a child visiting, and then recognition.

The man's eyes widened, "Namikaze-sama."

Naruto scratched his head. He'd never gotten used to the formality that was beginning to be addressed to him now that his father was Hokage. "Er, just Naruto is fine. Anyway, is my dad free?"

The man nodded dumbly. And then shook his head.

"Please give me a moment," he muttered, looking flustered as he ducked his head again. Quickly he sorted through the schedules for the day, and taking a breath, he looked up again. "I'm sorry for the wait, Namikaze-sama. There are no appointments pending for this afternoon."

"Eh, you don't need to be sorry if you're telling me good news," Naruto grinned. Giving up on the name thing as a lost cause—though he'd make the man come around!—Naruto waved goodbye and ran for the stairs. "Thanks! And the answer to that problem is in the trade routes!"

He made his way up to the top of the tower. Only one person stood in sight, though Naruto knew there were a few ANBU lurking about. He wasn't yet at the level where he could easily detect them, having no real sensor capabilities, but his dad had pointed them out to him before.

"Hey Genma," Naruto greeted happily as he strode up to the Hokage's door. At the entrance was always a member of the Yondaime's chosen guard platoon. When he was away on foreign affairs he was meant to take all three, but at home, the risk was considerably less.

"Naruto," the senbon chewing jounin acknowledged with a languid nod.

Naruto opened the door with a wave goodbye, stepping in to a spacious room overlooking the village. Namikaze Minato sat behind a large rectangular desk in the center, head bowed as he hurried through his stacks of paperwork with a look of intense concentration on his face.

The door swung shut as Naruto bounded to the desk. He looked down at the latest document his father was working through. The basket he was carrying swayed at his knees, blocked by the outcrop of the mahogany desk.

"Border disagreements with Kumo again?" Naruto frowned.

"They like being unreasonable," Minato said dryly, finishing up the last of the signatures with a sigh. "I guess I should be glad it hasn't turned into skirmishes yet. They're testing our power."

"You mean your power," Naruto corrected with a grin.

Minato glanced up, and his expression changed to reflect Naruto's. "Yes, that's right. And they'll find that Konoha certainly hasn't gotten any weaker."

"Hm," Naruto hummed. His dad often discussed foreign affairs with him and made it into a teachable moment, but Naruto probably shouldn't initiate one while his dad was still working. Though first— "It was nice of you to employ a retired shinobi."

Minato pushed the rest of his documents to the side, blue eyes twinkling, "Ah, so you've noticed then?"

Naruto nodded. It hadn't been hard. Although the newest secretary did not wear a forehead protector any longer, he dressed in tear resistant shinobi clothing and in a style that was unsuitable for any civilian profession. The biggest thing which gave him away was his posture however. Although Naruto didn't think the man noticed it, he held himself in a way that would make it easy to reach for weapons or slip into taijutsu, likely ingrained now after decades of practice. There was also the fact that he hardly made any noise when he moved, and his movements themselves were minimalistic. Naruto estimated that the man had been a chuunin before retirement.

"Not everybody is Sarutobi-san or Jiraiya-sensei," Minato mused. "Higashikuni Ichizo-san had a long term in service and it might have been dangerous for him to continue. He hadn't taken to civilian life very well though, so I've invited him to work for me here, instead."

Naruto had noticed that too. The slight dilation of the pupil, the faint tremor in the hands. It was symptoms of withdrawal. His father was vastly understating what condition he'd likely found Ichizo in, and the easy hope which he'd offered. It was something Naruto always marvelled about in regards to his father, when he became old enough to understand. His dad was just really, really, nice. And he wasn't nice in a braggy way but a subtle, quiet way that ensnared the lives around him.

"Do you think he'll be okay?" Naruto asked, hoping that the man would be. He looked like he needed it.

"Well," Minato's eyes bunched up as he smiled. "I can only offer Ichizo-san a place to work, but I believe in the resilience of Konoha shinobi."

"Yeah," Naruto agreed thoughtfully. His dad made it so easy to have confidence in Konoha. Maybe that was what being a Hokage was about.

There had been a time when Naruto had wanted to be Hokage. He had wanted the love of the villagers. But now that he had love—in the form of his friends, of Kakashi nii-san, of coming downstairs to his father every day—Naruto found that he didn't require any more. He still wanted to become the strongest ninja in the world so that he could protect everyone he loved, but he didn't want a job that seemed all consuming like the kage office.

He didn't fault his dad for taking it though. Jiji was getting old, and there was no better successor than Naruto's father. The villagers took up so much of his father's time, but Naruto understood that, too. There were a lot of people who needed help, and Dad helped because he was kind. He wouldn't be Dad otherwise.

Although sometimes, sometimes he wished…

"Ne, the old lady Joruri wanted you to have some fruit," Naruto said, pushing the wicker basket he'd been carrying onto his dad.

"Huh?" For a moment, Namikaze Minato looked utterly stunned. And then his features smoothed out and he took the basket with a small smile. "That was very nice of her. And very nice of you. Did you come all the way here to deliver that?"

"Eh." Naruto rubbed the back of his neck. "No, it just kind of happened. I came here because I wanted to ask for a C-rank."

"A C-rank?"

"Yeah!" Naruto shoved unnecessary thoughts aside. They weren't helpful to anyone. "We're ready for it, don't you think?"

"It's true that your individual abilities are great," Minato mused, and then his gaze sharpened. "But it's against procedure to allow a genin team a C-rank mission so early. You more than anyone should know this."

Naruto did know. D-ranks were legitimate missions. There were a variety of people in Konoha who did not have the time or inclination to perform minor chores and thus hired genin teams to complete them. Konoha was big, and the number of tasks that needed to be carried out every week even more so. Otherwise, career genin could not exist.

Even so, fresh genin were encouraged to take a minimal number of D-ranks before trying for higher grades. D-ranks bound teams together through mutual displeasure and exhaustion. D-ranks taught discipline. D-ranks eased newly graduated students into the rigours of shinobi life. D-ranks trained genin to become so used to team formations that it became instinct to them.

Naruto sighed, "Yuuta thinks it might help with team dynamics."

Minato exhaled, "I see."

While Naruto was too embarrassed to complain too much about his team, his father knew the gist of it. At first Naruto had been reluctant to tell his dad much about his genin test, except expressing his discontent and frustration about Takiko's actions. Eventually it'd all been coaxed out of him. It'd been relieving to let go of it all, but his dad's patience had only made Naruto feel childish in his grievances. Dad only told him to give it some time.

"So can't we have one?" Naruto pleaded. "I know it's bad conduct, but I don't see Team Five getting any better with D-ranks. D-ranks are meant to improve a foundation right? But currently, we don't even have that."

"And you came to me here at my office, instead of asking for a C-rank at the missions desk, because you didn't want to force my decision as a Hokage," Minato said, sounding amused. "Or is it that you didn't want me to be seen as being unfair? That sounds more like you. I'm really impressed, Naru-chan."

"We—well, Kabuto's really good at this 'being underneath the underneath' thing," Naruto said, blushing. It was kind of embarrassing to be caught like this and then praised for it. "Between you and him, if I didn't know this much, I'd really be an idiot wouldn't I?"

Minato let out a laugh and pulled out a file from his stack of papers. "Alright, you've convinced me. I will assign a C-rank mission to Sumina. You will leave at 0800 hours two days from now. I'll let her give you the details. You can go begin packing if you'd like."

"Yatta!" Naruto leapt up, pumping a fist into the air. He turned to run back home, because it had been forever since he'd been outside of Konoha. "Thanks Dad, you're the best!"

And then he was out in a whirlwind of motion.

* * *

Minato watched his son go with amusement. As always, Naruto was a fountain of energy. He was the so called Yellow Flash, and still he had trouble keeping up with his son. He wasn't even sure what Naruto was in such a hurry about—or if there was anything to be in a _hurry_ about. Often times Naruto seemed to like rushing to places just to rush to places.

Youth. The Sandaime had laughed at him when Minato complained about it.

With a shake of his head, Minato tried to bring reign focus back to his papers. Naruto's visit had been a pleasant distraction, but Minato did have Hokage-y things to be doing. In truth he would rather deal with Naruto's team dynamics than trade agreements, but he had little choice in the matter.

The fact that it was a problem with Kumo just made it worse. Konoha's and Kumo's bond had never been a strong one, and after the kidnapping incident of the Hyuuga heiress four years ago, their relationship had reached sub zero temperatures.

Naruto had been quite astute to notice that Kumo was testing the waters. What his son didn't know, however, was that there was no way this could end amiably. This was only one of the many feelers Kumo put out to assess how ready Konoha was for battle, and it was a struggle to try and depict Konoha as still strong but not outright aggressive.

Minato could feel a headache coming on. He'd attended the Treaty gathering six years ago with Naruto in hopes that he could witness the end of Kumo's and Konoha's animosity towards each other. The only reason that the Cloud nin had come to Konoha was to sign that wretched peace agreement after all. He hadn't imagined that it would turn into the political nightmare that it had.

Konoha had gone with the diplomatic route to avoid war. They were not ready after their then recent confrontation with Iwa and the Kyuubi attack. Hiashi had seen that too, and their clan made the greatest sacrifice for Konoha.

It did, however, mean that Kumo could not be forgiven.

Kumo had to know that too, and they could not fail to be wary of Konoha's Yellow Flash back at the helm. Konoha itself was not free from such troubles. There were many who welcomed the idea of war, because despite the drain on resources, they had more than a reasonable chance of winning, and the rewards they would reap could be great. The leader of that faction was none other than Shimura Danzo, another inherited problem.

While Minato was popular with the younger shinobi, the older generation still held reservations about his particular views. Danzo had many supporters among them, and even the Sandaime was unwilling to move against his old friend. Minato had managed to limit Root, but without any obvious disasters caused by the faction, he had no real reason to disband them. It was a vexing situation.

Maybe, Minato thought absently as he plucked an apple from the delivered fruits basket, he should just sic Naru-chan on them and have them all shamed into agreeing with Minato through undeniable cuteness. Child exploitation? Phhft, whatever. His son would know it was for a good cause.

Besides, it was Minato's money which brought in the ramen. Naruto would forgive him.

Smiling now—an unconscious gesture—Minato rubbed the skin of the apple against his shirt to clean it before taking a bite. With one hand, he scratched out a counter proposal to the latest contract handed to him, while he took a well deserved snack with the other.

He wasn't really sure how long he worked for when he heard the door swing open again. He did know that he'd long since finished the apple and had put the fruits basket back under the table, although he'd lost track of the minutes in between. If he took the time to think about it, he'd remember everything clearly, but at that moment his focus was not on such things.

"Forgot someth—" Minato began as he raised his head to ask the intruder… only to find that it wasn't his son like he had expected. Naruto was one of the only ones who entered the Hokage's office without prior appointment. Of course, the one standing before him now was one of the others.

Minato blinked.

"Sensei?"

"Hey Minato," Jiraiya greeted easily as he closed the door again. For a moment he stood scrutinizing the slab of lumber, before reaching into his breast pocket. Then he slapped a seal onto the door. Turning back to face his student, Jiraiya grinned. "Hope you aren't expecting someone else."

"No one at the moment," Minato said, eyeing the Sannin's work. Jiraiya had come prepared. It took him a moment to decipher the components. A privacy seal. Minato straightened, voice somber. "What is it, sensei?"

The Hokage office had privacy seals of its own. In a ninja village, even thick walls and an insulated door could not guarantee confidentiality. If Jiraiya was using his own secrecy seals on top of that, it meant that he did not trust the ones installed in the village to be enough.

"It's probably not what you're thinking," Jiraiya sighed, flopping down on the chair in front of Minato's desk. It creaked under the older nin's weight. "Might be something, might be nothing. Just want to make sure, you know?"

Minato felt himself relax in his seat. Smoke then, and not fire. It could still be dangerous if left unchecked, but it didn't require an immediate response. He gave a small smile, "Did Hiroshi-kun come up with something?"

Jiraiya grimaced. "Ugh, I might not be Acting Spymaster anymore, but don't count me out yet. Besides, the brat wouldn't be able to turn out something subtle like this." Giving Minato a fond look, Jiraiya gave a wry shake of his head. "If only you had a twin who could take over my information network. They don't make shinobi like they used to."

Perhaps Minato should have been flattered, but he was well aware of his own abilities. It was more worrying that Jiraiya was apparently frustrated enough with his chosen successor to make mention of it. Minato had thought they'd been doing well.

"Is Hiroshi-kun no good?" Minato asked in amusement.

"Hiroshi's fine," Jiraiya replied with a dismissive wave of his hand. He sighed. "But that's all he is. Fine. He makes a good intermediate, but he doesn't have the skills or the personality to be my true successor. If you want Konoha's information network to continue being the best, we'll have to find someone else."

Minato just shook his head. Jiraiya's requirements were simply very hard to fulfill. Apparently, to be a spymaster, one needed to have an honest quality, otherwise they could not gain the trust of all of Jiraiya's informants. They also had to be intelligent enough to get information from uncooperative populations, and good enough with people to notice discrepancies. Konoha had many shinobi experienced in espionage, but to find someone like that—well, difficult would be putting it mildly.

"I'll be on the lookout," Minato promised. He leaned forward, keen. "Now, what do you have for me?"

Jiraiya reached inside his shirt. His face turned serious as he brought out a leaflet of papers, and threw them on Minato's desk. "Madara."

Instantly Minato stilled, his previous good mood evaporating.

Jiraiya explained everything as Minato looked through the gathered information. There wasn't a lot. There wasn't even real confirmation of anything. Jiraiya had been absolutely right when he said it might be something, or it might be nothing at all.

What suspicions there were however, made Minato's blood run cold. Kiri. If Madara had allies in a major village, then to deal with him, they might have to deal with war after all. He only hoped that Jiraiya's worst case scenarios were exclusively that—scenarios.

"So what do you think?" Jiraiya asked when Minato was done, eyes shrewd as he regarded his motionless pupil. He had long since picked up the signs for when Minato was still thinking on or had already completed a problem.

"We have to investigate," Minato whispered as he put the pages down. "There's no other option."

It was more probable than not that Jiraiya's information was false, but they could not leave it. They were shinobi, and on the off chance that Madara did have some connection with Kirigakure, they needed to know.

Jiraiya regarded Minato evenly for a moment before lowering his gaze to the papers once again. In the best case, they'd find something there that would lead to Madara. But there was always the danger of running into guards or allies of the ancestor Uchiha, and that could certainly not be made light of. Added to that, the location itself was a hotbed for trouble. The sannin's voice was deceptively light, "So who'll it be?"

"Someone I can absolutely trust," Minato muttered.

The list—wasn't extraordinarily long.

Minato had to wince at the thought. It felt ungenerous to the shinobi he so easily smiled at to reveal that he did not have total faith in their allegiances, but neither could he afford to be naive. Everyone was loyal to their Hokage, but they were also loyal to their teams, their clans, their patrons. Besides that, this kind of mission required a different kind of trust altogether.

"Well think on it," Jiraiya said after a searching look. "You have some time to. This information's not going anywhere. If you want someone to bounce ideas off of, my door's always open for you."

Minato smiled weakly, "Thanks, sensei."

Jiraiya was astute and a good judge of character, but he had been away from Konoha for most of his life. He did not know the current ranks of shinobi well enough to discuss their potential with Minato, but sometimes Jiraiya had different ways to look at things that were a great help to his former student.

The sannin left soon afterwards, taking his papers with him in hopes of filling out more information from his end of things. Minato knew that was unlikely. They needed intelligence from the inside. Minato hunkered down to go through the personnel files.

Halfway through, his foot kicked something beneath the table, and it took Minato a second to recall the fruits basket. With a smile, Minato reached down and took it out once again. He'd nearly forgotten about it. He'd have to take it home for dinner, otherwise the fruit might go bad.

Seeing it did remind him of Naruto's visit earlier though, and of something Naruto had said. Minato stilled. The words, and more importantly, the thoughts behind them struck him. And, the more Minato thought about it, the more he realized he was inclined to agree.

He bit his lip, wondering if he should. But this was about the village's safety, and personal feelings had to be put aside. And this route, he had decided, was potentially the best one he _could_ take.

Minato sent out the missive. If anyone cared about what the Hokage was doing, they'd know that the meeting took place, but wouldn't know what it was about. He also let his secretary know of the appointment.

Fifteen minutes later, and Minato had yet another guest in his office.

Yakushi Kabuto stood before him, grey eyes cast downwards in a gesture of perfect submission as he bowed in greeting, "You called, Hokage-sama?"

* * *

A/n: Holy crap, you will not believe how hard it was to write this chapter. There are a lot of scenes I had in mind for this chapter or the following two, and I could not decide which should go where. In the end I've decided to go with this combination, because I feel like tonally, it fits together, but who even knows anymore.

 _ **Q &A**_

 _ **Why does Team Eleven know so much about the chuunin exams?**_

It's my personal theory that clan/shinobi children just _know_ what the chuunin exams are about. I can't imagine that they've never seen or heard of one from their older siblings/family. Team Seven didn't know anything because none of them have family members to expose them to it, and Kakashi doesn't like to tell them anything. I think the clan kids know that they have to work their butts off to pass the first two tests and then can just show off in the last one. Winning, of course, would be best, but only because of the prestige. As such, I didn't include this explanation in the entire conversation between Team Eleven and Naruto, because none of them would bother to comment about this. It wouldn't even occur to them that some people _don't_ know.

 _ **How does Team Five only go on a mission a week? That's ridiculously slow.**_

To participate in the chuunin exams, a team must have completed at least 8 missions. In other words there have been teams in the past which have tried to apply but have not completed 8 missions. Considering that the first chuunin exams after graduation occur probably three months in, that's about 3 missions per month. When Kabuto reveals the mission history of Rock Lee, it's stated that he completed 20 D rank missions and 12 C rank, which equals 32 missions in total. 32 missions in 12 months is about 3 missions per month. Therefore, I can only conclude that ninja don't actually get sent out on that many missions.

While this seems shocking, it makes more sense if you consider that the Naruto universe seems to be set in pre-modern times. Historically, warriors were highly venerated but actually were in combat very little, and spent most of their time training or performing public services. For a statistic, consider this—gladiators were the most well trained fighters in ancient Rome, and highly expensive to maintain, so much so that purchasing gladiators for games were known to bankrupt cities. Yet, a gladiator was only required to fight about two or three times a year. Yeah.


End file.
